Monday Matters: Volunteer A Vital Part Of Fort Smith Beautification Group

Monday

Jun 2, 2014 at 4:06 AM

Every organization has its event organizer; Beautify Fort Smith has that and more in Andrea Beckman.

Every organization has its event organizer; Beautify Fort Smith has that and more in Andrea Beckman.

Beckman is a lifelong Fort Smith resident who cares very much about keeping her city clean. Her love of nature began when she was young, and stuck with her into adulthood, she said.

"I’ve always enjoyed plants, flowers, anything green or outdoorsy," said Beckman, 41. "I just really like to see it, to be in it and to know it’s being taken care of."

About three years ago, Beckman joined Beautify Fort Smith, a group made up of volunteer-driven citizens dedicated to enhancing the image and appearance of Fort Smith by creating a successful and aesthetically-pleasing community, according to its Facebook page, facebook.com/BeautifyFortSmith.

Beckman has served the group by posting to the Facebook page, emailing volunteers, and promoting and coordinating events.

"She has definitely had a tremendous impact," said Nancy Smreker, the group’s president. "She just does a lot of planning of different programs for Beautify Fort Smith."

Among those programs are spring and fall cleanups in Fort Smith, which are part of the Great American Cleanup and the Great Arkansas Cleanup, respectively.

The volunteer base in Fort Smith has steadily increased each year, and April’s cleanup was the biggest one yet, Beckman said.

"We had a lot of school kids come — high school, and some junior-high age kids — they were a big help," she said. "That’s really where we need to get started — bringing awareness to the kids at a young age so they’ll grow up and be more mindful of litter and throwing trash out."

Liz Philpott, volunteer coordinator with Keep Arkansas Beautiful, said she met Beckman in person for the first time last fall during a coordinator meeting, but had been working with her before that through email and phone correspondence.

"I’m just really, really impressed with her," Philpott said. "She has a lot of great ideas for her community and is very excited to work with everyone. She seems very driven — it really inspired me."

Through her working relationship with Beckman, Philpott has seen the progress Beautify Fort Smith has made through its growth and increased activity, she said.

"Andrea’s a spark plug," Philpott said. "I think every community needs a spark plug who kind of makes sure that everybody’s doing what they say they’re going to do."

Shael McDonald, treasurer for Beautify Fort Smith, said much of the group’s success can be attributed to Beckman’s efforts.

"She’s dedicated, and she’s definitely a driving force for us," McDonald said. "She’s goes after grants; she goes after opportunities."

Beckman applied for and secured a $1,500 grant from the Arkansas Flower and Garden Club for Beautify Fort Smith to use to plant 20 oak trees at school grounds in Fort Smith on Arbor Day. She also helped to arranged a pickup of free trees from Up With Trees, a nonprofit urban forestry group out of Tulsa, which were planted during Fort Smith’s spring cleanup.

Increasing Fort Smith’s tree canopy is a priority for Beckman. An ideal tree coverage in the city would be about 30-40 percent, but right now the city has about 14 percent coverage, she said.

"Our coverage is very sporadic," Beckman said. "We have a lot of gray areas — which are parking lots, streets, that kind of thing. You go to other cities and they’ve got trees within their parking lots. We need to do better with our planning."

Getting more people to join Beautify Fort Smith would go a long way in cleaning up the city, Beckman said. Beautifying the Interstate 540/Rogers Avenue interchange with trees, landscaping and sprinklers is one of many projects the group has taken on. Beautify Fort Smith hopes to eventually clean up all nine interchanges along I-540 in Fort Smith.

"It’s going to look really nice," Beckman said. "It’s going to take a little while — they’ve got do some boring for the sprinkler system and that kind of thing — but they’ve got the plans, they’ve got the upkeep for several years to come."

Beautify Fort Smith also hopes to form a committee with the city of Fort Smith that could possibly fall under the Sanitation Department’s purview. The group has been discussing the possibility with At-Large Director Pam Weber, who is also a Beautify Fort Smith member.

Last month, Beckman was named one of Keep Arkansas Beautiful’s Lodestars. A Lodestar is someone who serves as an inspiration, model or guide in an effort to keep Arkansas clean, green and free of litter, according to Keep Arkansas Beautiful’s website.

Beckman humbly accepted the recognition but wants to keep the focus on Beautify Fort Smith and cleaning up the city, she said.

McDonald said Beckman’s leadership is largely influence by example, rather than through demand.

"She’ll make those phone calls, she’ll send out emails. She pounds pavement on it; she really does. She makes sure all of the things are happening. She doesn’t drop the ball at all," McDonald said. "It’s really hard when you can’t count on someone. That’s why it’s always important when you find that one person — you hold onto that. We hold onto Andrea very closely."